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North a cut above on diamonds In softball, Horn leads the way By GREG STILES Sandy Horn waited a long time to break into the North Medford softball lineup. Now that she's batting leadoff for the No. 7 Black Tornado, the senior center fielder is making the best of it. Horn reached base safely all nine times she stepped to the plate Saturday at Fagone Field and scored six runs as North swept South Medford, 10-0, 10-0, in a Southern Oregon Conference doubleheader. The first game was halted in the sixth inning and the second in the fifth inning as North upped its conference record to 6-0 and its overall mark to 8-4. South fell to 0-6 and 2-13 overall. Horn was 2-for-2, with a double, scoring two runs, driving in three and walking twice in the opener. She was 2-for-3 in the nightcap, reaching via a walk and an error. She scored four runs and stole two bases. "Reaching base nine straight times in a doubleheader is a pretty impressive thing," said 19th-year coach Larry Binney. "Sandy has done a good job as one of our captains, leading by example. She's made a great adjustment to center field after being an infielder all of her life." Stuck behind a class of athletes that produced a bevy of all-state performers, Horn had to bide her time playing a bit part. She got into six games, got a hit in her only official at-bat and stole a couple of bases last spring. With Horn leading the way, North banged out 10 hits in the first game and 11 in the second. Those numbers are worthy of her two most recent predecessors in center field _ first-team all-staters Jill Ruter and Kylie Allen _ who also filled the leadoff role. "I played a lot of summer ball and got used to leading off," Horn said. "I know I've got big shoes to fill, but I know that I can." North scored in all but one of its turns at bat in the opener, taking a 1-0 lead on an unearned run in the first inning. The Tornado wrapped it up with a three-run sixth as Steph Coe lashed a single to right that scored Tina Quintero to end the contest. Britney Hillyer and Quintero _ the eight and nine hitters _ were a combined 4-for-7 with four runs scored and three RBIs in the game and 7-for-12 for the day. Conversely, no South batter in the six through nine slots got a hit, and only twice did one of them reach base. "We just all go up there thinking we're going to make something happen," Hillyer said. "We're getting more confidence." In the second game, South threatened in the top of the first inning when Kristal Capsey and Lindsey McHenry collected back-to-back hits with one out. But Coe, who extended her streak of scoreless innings to 24 over four games, got out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout. She finished with three-hitters in both games. The junior right-hander struck out six and walked three in the first game and fanned five and walked one in the nightcap. North led 3-0 going to the bottom of the fourth inning when it sent 10 hitters to the plate, scoring four runs on five hits and two walks. Coe's two-run single to right capped the outburst. The Tornado put it away with three runs in the fifth as Jill Carrigan doubled home two runs. "I know we might not be as good as last year, but I know we have a lot of talent here," Quintero said. The Tornado showed confidence in the field as well, where it played errorlessly. "We've been working at communicating better and talking it up out there," Quintero said. South Medford continued to struggle with the glove, committing three errors in each game. "You saw today what has been the problem all year," South coach Duke Mondale said. "The girls know it, we know it. We keep trying different things and making adjustments and we get the same thing." Mondale even flip-flopped his pitching rotation by starting freshman Darci Byrne in Game 1 and coming back with senior Christie Calvert. "The girls are putting out an effort and trying as hard as they can. But things aren't working the way we would like." FIRST GAME South Medford .............. 000 000 _ 0 3 4 North Medford ...........113 023 _ 10 10 0 Byrne and Hoffmeier; Coe and Hillyer. W _ Coe (7-4). L _ Byrne (1-6). 2B _ NM: Horn, Quintero. SECOND GAME South Medford ...............000 00 _ 0 3 0 North Medford ............120 43 _ 10 11 3 Calvert and Hoffmeier; Coe and Hillyer. W _ Coe (8-4). L _ Calvert (1-7). 2B _ NM: Williams, Carrigan 2. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA